Fifa chief football officer and former United States women’s national team coach Jill Ellis says that the fixture congestion caused by the Club World Cup being played in January 2028 will prove to be an outlier.

The competition was due to take place in 2026, but was delayed by two years.

Ellis, who coached the USA to Women’s World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019, told the BBC: “These consultations have happened since 2022, and this window [January] was one of the windows agreed upon.

“It’s hard to find the perfect spot, so it was important to involve a lot of people in these conversations.

“The Club World Cup was due to take place in 2026, stakeholders said that was too soon. The decision was taken on these recommendations to delay it until 2028.”

On whether there is an appetite for the Club World Cup, Ellis said: “I think there is. I ran a club in San Diego for three years and players are competitive, there is banter about who is the best club in the world, the best league in the world.

“I recognise we have to grow it and educate people about it. This came to the calendar fairly late, but I think this will showcase these players around the world.

“And the coach in me thinks, a lot of players don’t get a chance to play international football so there is that as well.”

While there is a concern about fixture pile-up, players’ union Fifpro has said some players are in need of more matches and that underloaded footballers are at a greater injury risk.

According to a recent report, external, 43% of WSL players made fewer than 20 appearances per season while only 11% played 40 or more matches.